Comments on: Blogoween: Someone’s Watching Me (1978) http://thescope.ca/blogoween/blogoween-someones-watching-me-1978 St. John's Culture, Events, and Entertainment | Newfoundland, Canada Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:09:44 -0230 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Adam Clarke http://thescope.ca/blogoween/blogoween-someones-watching-me-1978/comment-page-1#comment-7523 Adam Clarke Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:28:39 +0000 http://thescope.ca/?p=10888#comment-7523 It's interesting that the movie with his most atypical cast of characters (read: teenagers) was the one that put Carpenter on the map. With the exception of Christine, he's never gone back to that well. It’s interesting that the movie with his most atypical cast of characters (read: teenagers) was the one that put Carpenter on the map. With the exception of Christine, he’s never gone back to that well.

(Report above comment as off-topic, spam, false, or abusive.)

]]> By: Rodney Wall http://thescope.ca/blogoween/blogoween-someones-watching-me-1978/comment-page-1#comment-7494 Rodney Wall Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:49:19 +0000 http://thescope.ca/?p=10888#comment-7494 This movie is interesting for a bunch of reasons. First of all, Carpenter does an amazing job of building the Stalker/Killer up to almost supernatural levels. For the vast majority of the film he's just a shadow, or a disembodied voice, when he suddenly shows up in the flesh it's quite a shock. He also looks like an early prototype for Michael Meyers. The other thing I think is interesting, is that with his next movie John Carpenter laid down the template for what would become the Slasher film. That included the concept of the "Final Girl", a usually virginal character who doesn't engage in the vices of the other victims, and so survives to do battle with the killer, ultimately emerging as the victor. Halloween also signaled a shift from adult characters, who had traditionally populated horror movies, to generic teenagers who would come to dominate the genre. In contrast, this movie's heroine, Leigh Michaels is an established career woman, who picks up her philosophic(but not platonic) love interest at a bar. She drinks, smokes, has sex, and in the end, still kills the bad guy. I think this movie sits right in the middle of the European tradition of the Giallo, and the American Slasher. It's almost like it offers a view of what might have been in an alternate reality. It's also simply a well made, and stylish Thriller, that delivers plenty of suspense, and genuine scares. This movie is interesting for a bunch of reasons.

First of all, Carpenter does an amazing job of building the Stalker/Killer up to almost supernatural levels. For the vast majority of the film he’s just a shadow, or a disembodied voice, when he suddenly shows up in the flesh it’s quite a shock. He also looks like an early prototype for Michael Meyers.

The other thing I think is interesting, is that with his next movie John Carpenter laid down the template for what would become the Slasher film. That included the concept of the “Final Girl”, a usually virginal character who doesn’t engage in the vices of the other victims, and so survives to do battle with the killer, ultimately emerging as the victor. Halloween also signaled a shift from adult characters, who had traditionally populated horror movies, to generic teenagers who would come to dominate the genre.
In contrast, this movie’s heroine, Leigh Michaels is an established career woman, who picks up her philosophic(but not platonic) love interest at a bar. She drinks, smokes, has sex, and in the end, still kills the bad guy.
I think this movie sits right in the middle of the European tradition of the Giallo, and the American Slasher. It’s almost like it offers a view of what might have been in an alternate reality.

It’s also simply a well made, and stylish Thriller, that delivers plenty of suspense, and genuine scares.

(Report above comment as off-topic, spam, false, or abusive.)

]]>